


Discretion is the Better Part of Valor

by Lamia of the Dark (VisceraNight)



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bullying, Ciri is in 1st Grade, Family, Family Fluff, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29728095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisceraNight/pseuds/Lamia%20of%20the%20Dark
Summary: Little Ciri is being bullied at school and lashes out violently at her tormentors, and her grandparents have to deal with the fallout.
Relationships: Calanthe Fiona Riannon & Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, Calanthe Fiona Riannon/Eist Tuirseach
Kudos: 12
Collections: Sugar and Spice Witcher Bingo





	Discretion is the Better Part of Valor

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sugar and Spice Witcher Bingo, prompt: hugs.

~ Discretion is the Better Part of Valor ~

"Calanthe, dearest-" Eist began, only to be interrupted by the sound of his wife's sharp exhalation on the other side of the phone line.

"I know that tone, Eist. What has Ciri done now?"

"She was sent home from school for punching another child."

Despite the vagaries of the English language, Calanthe was fully aware that 'another' in this case meant both that this was a repeat infraction and that the child who had been punched this time was a different one than the previous time.

"And?" she inquired tersely.

"And Ciri's principal would like to speak to you at your earliest convenience."

Calanthe sighed.

(Pavetta had never been this much trouble as a child. If anything, Ciri reminded Calathe of _herself_ at that age.)

Dealing with the phone call to the school was unpleasant, but it had to be done, and Calanthe would rather take such responsibilities upon herself than allow Eist to handle them. Her husband functioned exceptionally well under stress, but he also tended to get emotional over any slight to his loved ones, so the elementary school administration quickly learned that all disciplinary matters regarding their granddaughter should be directed to Calanthe.

"This is the second time in as many weeks that your child has been sent to my office and I've had to explain to her that physical retaliation is not an appropriate response to verbal harassment. Either something is not getting through to her or the lesson is not being reinforced at home."

The principal sounded exactly as stressed out and exasperated with the situation as Calanthe was herself, which was the only thing that kept her from snapping at the woman.

"And what about the children that bullied her to the point that Ciri felt she had _no choice_ but to lash out physically in order to defend herself?"

"The other children are being disciplined for their actions as appropriate, and I am not permitted to discuss it with you in further detail than that. As for Ciri's available choices, what she should have done is tell her teacher about the bullying."

"Because that obviously worked so well the last time." Calanthe couldn't keep the sarcastic edge out of her voice. "Whatever Ms. Glevissig did the last time she was informed of this issue has obviously done nothing to prevent the rest of her students from bullying my granddaughter, or we would not be having this conversation."

And so on, and so forth, and by the time the call finally ended it felt like they'd just been talking in circles and nothing about the situation had truly been resolved.

If anything, it had Calanthe seriously considering the possibility of transferring Ciri out of the private elementary school she currently attended and into the public one.

* * *

After enduring the last few hours of her work day, Calanthe finally arrived at home, where she found Ciri curled up in Eist's lap, clutching her favorite stuffed animal - a black horse named Kelpie, which had been a gift from Ciri's godfather. Some children's cartoon about pigeons was playing on the TV, but Ciri wasn't paying any attention to it.

As soon as Calanthe entered the living room, Ciri lifted her head from where it rested on Eist's shoulder and cried, "Grandma!"

Kelpie plopped onto the couch cushion as Ciri flung her arms out toward her grandmother.

As she leaned down to pick the child up, Calanthe brushed a quick kiss to her husband's cheek.

"Welcome home, dearest," Eist said, with a soft smile.

After several long moments of simply clinging to her grandmother, Ciri looked around and said, "Where's Kelpie?"

Eist handed the toy up to her, and Ciri clutched Kelpie to her.

Once she was settled, Calanthe asked the child, "Do you want to tell me what happened at school?"

"Everyone was being mean to me," Ciri answered. There was a quality to the tone of her voice that told Calanthe the child had spent much of the afternoon crying and only recently stopped. "They were calling me Fruit Loops and Cinnamon Toast Crunch and expected me to answer to it like it was my name."

Last time the other children in her class had started calling her 'Cereal' instead of her name. Now they had escalated to brand names of cereal.

"And they didn't stop until after I hit Angouleme," Ciri concluded her tale. Before Calanthe had gathered her thoughts enough to respond, Ciri added, "I hate school and I don't want to go to school anymore."

"You have to go to school," Calanthe said.

Ciri snuffled into Kelpie's mane, clearly on the verge of crying.

Calanthe wrestled with the decision for a moment, before putting forth: "How would you feel about going to a different school?"

Ciri immediately perked up at that.

"The one that Geralt's a teacher at?"

"Yes, that one."

Ciri squealed. "I want to go to that one!"

Eist thought that changing schools seemed like a drastic solution, but if it made Ciri and Calanthe happy, then he was happy with it.

~end~


End file.
